That year was just...brutal. I'd say that although I don't think Solich would have been able to sustain success, for that one year, he would have exceeded Callahan. Oh, those games:
Southern Miss - the disbelief as Joe Dailey ran out of bounds on 4th down at the end.
Pittsburgh - Possibly the worst football game I've ever seen. It was like watching 2 mentally challenged individuals have sex with a deflated football. No one deserved to win that game. No one.
Texas Tech - I returned from my honeymoon (Hawaii) and thought maybe the jet lag was making me hallucinate. 5 interceptions in a row, and we kept on dialing up passes. I'm still not sure that was real. Heck, even Mike Leach probably couldn't believe it.
Iowa State - We ran the ball very well, which is of course why we lost the game passing 9000 times in Jack Trice Stadium.
Oklahoma - the OU DB who told a recruit to watch the first play of the game, as he was going to intercept the ball. He then did, and scored. And then OU was up to 28 before most Sooner fans had time to even kiss their sisters (some tongue). *Edit* - I think this was another year. 2004 was the year we kicked a field goal for pride and angered Bobby Stoops. In hindsight 2004 was the highlight.
That year pulls even with 2007 as the rock bottom.
Callahan is a fine NFL line coach, and a smart football mind. In terms of his coaching here, he was the very definition of the wrong person at the wrong time.